Power outage notification and determination

Abstract

Systems and methods for identifying and targeting power outages are provided. Electric meters of a system receive electric power from power distribution equipment in a power distribution network and information that identifies the respective power distribution equipment from which the meters receive electric power. Communication nodes are associated with electric meters and receive, from neighboring communication nodes, information identifying each respective neighboring communication node and the information identifying the power distribution equipment from which respective electric meters, associated with neighboring communication nodes, receive electric power. A communication node of a particular electric meter can select a suitable communication node of a neighboring electric meter with which it can communicate. When the particular electric meter experiences a loss in power, it can then transmit an immediate regarding the loss in power to the selected communication node.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for providing notification of an outage in a power distribution system, comprising:
 a) receiving, at a first node of a communication network in the power distribution system, (i) information identifying each of a plurality of second, neighboring nodes, and (ii) information identifying power distribution equipment from which each of the respective second nodes receives electric power; 
 b) determining whether any of the second nodes has a battery backup; 
 c) if at least one of the second nodes has a battery backup, recording one of the nodes having a battery backup as a designated node to which outage notification messages are to be transmitted; 
 d) if none of the second nodes has a battery backup, determining whether any of the second nodes receives electric power from power distribution equipment other than the power distribution equipment from which the first communication node receives electric power, wherein step d) is performed iteratively for each of a plurality of different types of power distribution equipment until a second node is found that receives electric power from power distribution equipment other than power distribution equipment from which the first communication node receives electric power; 
 e) if at least one of the second nodes receives electric power from power distribution equipment other than the power distribution equipment from which the first communication node receives electric power, ranking those second nodes that receive electric power from said other power distribution equipment according to a message transmission metric; 
 f) recording the node having the highest rank as the designated node to which outage notification messages are to be transmitted; 
 g) if none of the second nodes receives electric power from power distribution equipment other than the power distribution equipment from which the first communication node receives electric power, selecting one of the second nodes based on the message transmission metric, 
 h) recording the selected node as the designated node to which outage notification messages are to be transmitted, 
 i) detecting, at the first node, that a loss in power has occurred, and 
 j) transmitting, from said first node, a power outage notification to the second node recorded as the designated node. 
 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 , further including, after step c) and prior to step d):
 determining whether any of the second nodes is an access point; and 
 if at least one of the second nodes is an access point, recording one of the nodes that is an access point as a designated node to which outage notification messages are to be transmitted. 
 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein step d) is iteratively performed for the following types of power distribution equipment, in the order of:
 substation, 
 feeder, 
 circuit breaker, 
 transformer. 
 
     
     
       4. A method for providing notification of an outage in a power distribution system, comprising:
 a) receiving, at a first node of a communication network in the power distribution system, (i) information identifying each of a plurality of second, neighboring nodes, and (ii) information identifying power distribution equipment from which each of the respective second nodes receives electric power; 
 b) determining whether any of the second nodes has a battery backup; 
 c) if at least one of the second nodes has a battery backup, recording one of the nodes having a battery backup as a designated node to which outage notification messages are to be transmitted; 
 d) if none of the second nodes has a battery backup, determining whether any of the second nodes receives electric power from power distribution equipment other than the power distribution equipment from which the first communication node receives electric power, wherein step d) is performed for a plurality of different types of power distribution equipment to find a second node that receives electric power from power distribution equipment other than power distribution equipment from which the first communication node receives electric power; 
 e) if at least one of the second nodes receives electric power from power distribution equipment other than the power distribution equipment from which the first communication node receives electric power, ranking those second nodes that receive electric power from said other power distribution equipment according to a message transmission metric; 
 f) recording the node having the highest rank as the designated node to which outage notification messages are to be transmitted; 
 g) if none of the second nodes receives electric power from power distribution equipment other than the power distribution equipment from which the first communication node receives electric power, selecting one of the second nodes based on the message transmission metric, 
 h) recording the selected node as the designated node to which outage notification messages are to be transmitted, 
 i) detecting, at the first node, that a loss in power has occurred, and 
 j) transmitting, from said first node, a power outage notification to the second node recorded as the designated node.